


Ataraxia

by Amaryllis_Namikaze



Category: Original Work
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Drama, F/M, Height Differences, Immortality, Love, Mates, Protectiveness, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Vampires, Witch Curses, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-24
Updated: 2020-02-26
Packaged: 2021-02-27 09:06:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22384576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amaryllis_Namikaze/pseuds/Amaryllis_Namikaze
Summary: at·a·rax·ia| (noun): a state of freedom from emotional disturbance and anxiety; tranquillity.Nikosiya Drozdova was a vampire-born used to laying low.Her former life in the royal family came to a halt when her parents, the previous king and queen, were killed by mysterious attackers. Instead of getting involved in the scheme, Siya was whisked away by her aunt and granduncle, mostly leaving vampirism behind and living in secrecy, as humanly as she could possibly appear.Centuries later, her quiet existence is interrupted by none other than Matheo Delucci, the current prince of the vampire world. She is, understandably, suspicious of Matheo, thinking he's there to finish the job and kill one of the last two Drozdovs. Turns out the guy needs her help to undo a witch curse.Well, as long as Siya can get back to her normal life later, no problem... yes?
Relationships: Nikosiya Drozdova/Matheo Delucci, Siya/Theo
Kudos: 2





	1. the start

Ok, so — the guy showed up out of nowhere.

Siya had been living for about three years, give or take, in a small city in Arizona with only a couple of bumps on her radar and nothing else. Yuma was known as one of the sunniest place on Earth - why would a vampire show up in there, right?

Exactly.

Which was why Siya had decided to hide there. Vampire-borns, like her, could bear the sunrays better and for longer periods than a vampire-made ever would. They'd be weaker, yes, but not burn from the inside out like a new blood would. Eventually, anyway.

What she _meant_ to say is — how had someone not only accidentally went there, but _found_ her in this goddamn city?

It started out like any other day.

* * *

_The thing about being a vampire_ , Siya mused, _was that you couldn't look bad no matter how hard you tried._

She'd been having a terrible week - well, month more like it - but it didn't seem to show on her face. Her cheeks were still silk smooth, her eyes carried no bags under them and her hair was as lively as ever.

On the risk of sounding like an angst-ridden teenager, she could say that her outer self never truly showed how she was feeling inside. Her appearance was impeccable, even if her insides were in turmoil.

_That's what you get for being an old blood_ , Siya concluded, turning her back to the bathroom mirror. Enough self-pity for today. Tomorrow or the day after, but no more today. She'd go to the art studio early, paint some stuff away from her depressing home and teach some classes later.

Siya was just about to leave her garage when her phone vibrated in her messenger bag. She closed her eyes for a second, dreading even thinking about looking at it, quite sure of what she would find in the spotless screen.

Nevertheless, Siya grabbed the damn thing and unlocked it. A password, four numbers. And, ah, there it was. A message from her aunt.

_Same clues, same place. You?_

Short as ever. Well, Tatiana was never one for words. In a way, she was like her brother, Dmitry, had once been. Siya's father had been the silent type. He'd relied too much on her mother to power through casual conversations.

Not that Siya could judge - she wasn't a talker either.

She typed _Same_ and decided that it was enough of an answer. Tatiana wouldn't be really interested in her day to day life, unless someone was threatening her. Then she'd usually get ballistic, but long was the time Siya needed someone's help to dispose of another vampire - or creature.

She was a grown woman.

She could take care of her own problems.

Even if they sometimes made her downright miserable.

* * *

" _Thank God_ you're here, Nikki!" was the first thing her boss said when she saw her walking through the door.

Siya twisted her lips in a smirk, thinking of her interesting choice of words. It wasn't everyday that a human thanked God for a vampire's presence, after all. Not that her boss knew that, of course. She wasn't even aware of her real name. For all intents and purposes, Siya was known as Nikki Black.

"Why are you thanking me so early into the afternoon, Chris?" She asked, smiling at her despairing expression.

Christine was in no mood for chit-chat, as she barked in her usual annoyed tone of voice, "No smiling at my expense today, miss. Grace went into labor about twenty minutes ago and her beginner's class starts in five minutes."

Siya's eyebrows shot up. Grace had looked like a walking watermelon last time she'd seen her last week - not that she'd ever tell her this, she valued her life, thank you very much - so she didn't follow why Christine seemed so surprised.

Christine was still talking.

"... and I have no teacher available, except for you, who wouldn't pick up the goddamned phone."

Working for Christine was tough love, Siya supposed, but she was used to straightforward women. Tatiana never minded her words, neither for praise nor for critics. She was a harsh woman and only expected the best.

"I apologize," Siya said in her most calming voice. "I was driving and didn't realize it was vibrating."

As most humans tend to do when Siya talks in her soothing tone, Christine calmed down almost immediately. She forgave her, she could see in her expression, even if her words contradicted it.

"Well, next time don't be so airheaded. It's a brand new class, so go be your usual charming self. We need more students. People don't see the beauty in art anymore, I swear."

Christine would keep on her _Art is dying, people are morons_ monologue, Siya knew from experience, if she wasn't interrupted. Siya cut her lecture by asking which classroom she was supposed to head to.

"Number four. Don't think I didn't see that face," she warned as she turned her back to her, lips drawn together in an effort not to burst out laughing in the studio's reception. "You guys are too spoilt. Classroom number four is a perfectly ok room!"

Siya rolled her eyes away from Christine's view. Classroom number four was the worst class to teach art. There was one rounded window which barely allowed any sunlight in, no air-conditioning - which in Arizona was almost a sacrilege - and was right beside the restrooms, which meant hearing flushing toilets all day.

Try teaching about the beauty of a controlled stroke on canvas with a toilet flushing right next door. Quite uninspiring.

Not for the first time as she walked down the hallway of Abbey&Chris Art Studio, Siya wondered how she ended teaching about art to a bunch of humans. She was a skilled painter, sure, but only because she lived more than most humans could even imagine living. She had no distinctive style of brushing, no color palette that made her stand out from other painters. Quite purposefully, yes, as she had no need to drawn attention to herself.

Still, Christ and Abbey had been nice enough to accept her in their teachers' roster. All the other teachers at the studio were well traveled, well studied, well rounded in most arts - painting, sculpting, photographing, drawing, the works.

Siya could paint, and that was it. For a vampire her age, it wasn't _that_ embarrassing to be so unskilled, but for human standards, she should've been versed in many more arts and crafts - having lived so long compared to petty humans, with their tiny lifespan and inability to retain most the information given to them.

Well, that was the punch line of her life, wasn't it? Siya was damn fine by human standards, but she wasn't human.

She was a vampire. Not just any vampire either. She was vampire-born, old blood. She was supposed to strive for better and better in this eternal life, always getting stronger, more skillful, sophisticated.

Siya had been on this path before - this mindless need for feeling superior. Most clans fought to prove themselves better than the others. Siya saw no meaning in that, even when her parents were alive. She saw even less reason to compete for attention now that her clan consisted of her aunt and her.

_The less attention, the better_ was her motto. Good thing she wasn't in the place she was before her parents died. She'd loved Dmitry and Yūki with all her heart - well, undead heart - but she was glad to have no more burdens from her former life.

Siya was all for passing through life unseen and unheard.

That was also how she entered the classroom - unseen and unheard. Most humans take a while to notice her presence if she doesn't strive to make it known. They were too busy talking to their blank-canvas neighbors, getting to know each other, to realize that their young teacher had entered the classroom.

_Except for the guy in the back_ , Siya thought, bewildered. Her eyebrows drew together in confusion.

The guy in question was about a few years older than Siya, appearance-wise. He had olive skin, so maybe from Mediterranean descent? His black hair was combed back with a few charming strands escaping. Broad shoulders, probably taller than Siya - not that it was hard to be.

Most importantly of all, though, was that the guy in the back was a vampire too. Siya could tell by the smell of his blood, noticeably different from the humans' around him. Probably old blood, too, as his scent was slightly different from what she was used to when around vampires these days, though it had been quite some time since she'd last seen one.

"Hello, Nikosiya," the vampire greeted pleasantly, too low for the others present in the classroom to hear.

Siya felt as if her air had been sucked out of her lungs in one blow. The vampire not only _was_ a vampire, but he also knew her true name. Her _entire_ name.

She should've stayed home. Grace's labor be damned.


	2. the introduction

Siya prided herself in her self-control. She was able to mask her emotions quite well for someone her age. She wasn't impulsive. She was clear-headed when the situation called for it.

Even so, even with all these esteemed qualities, she spent the next eighty minutes in agonizing fear and doubt for the future.

It had been a long time since someone had called her by her full name. Tatiana, with all her harshness, only ever called Siya by her nickname - as did her granduncle, Genmei - though it had been a long time since she'd last spoken directly to both. Her mother, Siya remembered, used to call her her _little bird_. Her father had been, perhaps, the only person to frequently use her entire name.

Yet, here was a vampire who _knew_ Siya's actual full name.

Who was this person?

What did he want?

(Was Siya finally going to die, after all these years on the run?)

Siya wished desperately that she could read thoughts like the Fukui clan could, the clan her mother came from before she married her father. She hadn't inherited her mental ability, however. Her mental ability was purely Drozdov.

"Good job on your umbrella, Martha," Siya praised as gently as she could one of her students. The woman, maybe half a decade older than her in appearance, became red like a tomato almost immediately, but managed to murmur _thank you_ under her breath.

Usually, this reaction would amuse Siya to no end. She was often entertained by humans and their habits. Most men - and even a few women, if she was honest - were bashful when spoken to by Siya. She was quite easy on human eyes, no doubt, though young, seemingly in her early-twenties.

Today, though, not even a human reaction could take Siya out of her alert state. She simply moved through the canvases and kept praising or correcting her students' works, purposefully ignoring the other vampire in the classroom - who, it was worth mentioning, kept painting whatever he wanted to in his own blank canvas.

(Siya hadn't been brave enough to come closer and see whatever was being painted.)

When the class came to an end, Siya wished she had an excuse such as _Sorry, I must hurry to my next class_ or even something as ridiculous as _Excuse me, I've got an stomachache_ to give.

Vampires did not have stomachaches. Ever.

And the other vampire would certainly be able to hear her being idle inside the building. Or even wait until the end of the day, when she'd be free from the studio. The guy clearly wanted something to do with her or he wouldn't even know her name.

Siya didn't have an out. She'd have to face this head on.

The last of her students - a couple obviously on their nth date - trickled out with a cheerful goodbye and a wave. Siya tried to smile back, hoping it didn't look as strained as it felt.

Her hands would be clammy if she could sweat. Her heart would be beating madly if it beat in the first place. Her body would be reacting in many, many ways if she wasn't a vampire.

The last time Siya encountered an old blood had been about five years ago, when she'd been passing through New York. Even so, it'd been brief, barely an exchange of glances and a nod of acknowledgment. The man hadn't known who she was - and she hadn't cared to find out who he was either.

She had met and spoken to new bloods in the last years, of course, though none of them in Yuma. They were younger - chronologically speaking - than her, uninterested in whatever had happened in the vampire world before their time, in whatever had happened in _her family._ Which suited Siya just fine, if she was honest. She wasn't one to be babble about her life story. The new bloods she'd met hadn't given a care in the world about who she was, where she came, what she used to be.

The vampire at the end of her classroom stood up in one fluid movement as soon as the door clicked closed. His steps towards Siya were assured and elegant as only a predator could be.

"Hello once again, Nikosiya," the vampire said pleasantly, as if his mere existence and knowledge didn't make him a threat. "My name is Matheo."

Siya couldn't fathom why he hadn't skipped the pleasantries straight to the point.

"How do you know who I am?" She questioned, because, really, there was no point denying. He'd clearly done his homework assignment.

Matheo's lips turned up in a barely there smirk. He took a few steps closer, stopping a couple of inches before her. So close to her, Siya could smell his clothes - only saltwater and palm trees. Without delay, she came to three conclusions.

Number one, Matheo hadn't been in the city for long. Vampires had an acute sense of smell - if he'd been around for a couple of days, Siya would've been able scent it.

Number two, not only had he come from a city next to the ocean, he'd probably walked close to it.

And, most importantly, he hadn't been around other vampires for at least a week. Their species had a scent that lingered for days on end. It was sweet on the tongue, almost too much in fact, rather nauseating if many of them gathered in small, enclosed spaces. One of the reasons why werewolves couldn't stand vampires, to be honest.

"Everybody knows _who_ you are, Nikosiya. The question always was _where_ were you."

Siya cocked her hip sideways, trying a nonchalant approach.

"I've been forgotten by the old bloods for awhile now," she said, an eyebrow cocked up. "Younger new bloods don't even know of my existence. It's a bedtime story at this point."

Matheo didn't seem impressed at her acting.

"Perhaps here, in America. In the New World," he conceded her point. "But in the Old World, your family's story is still as known as it was two centuries past. Our people don't forget so easily, as you must be aware. Nikosiya Drozdova exists in vampires' minds as much as it did before 1850."

Siya pressed her lips shut for a second. Matheo seemed like every other old blood she'd ever met before - an insufferable know-it-all. It came with immortality, she was sure. The older the more annoying.

"Ok, I'll bite." Matheo raised his eyebrows at her expression, seemingly amused. She kept on going, "How did you find me, then? I made sure to cover all my tracks."

"Ah," Matheo said, delighted. "That was, indeed, much harder to find. Quite the solitary creature, aren't you?" 

Siya didn't raise to his bait. She only wanted answers and him gone. She wasn't there to play mind games.

Matheo straightened up at her blasé expression. 

"I've been looking for you for months, if it makes you feel better. At first, absolutely nothing. It was as if, as you said, you were merely a bedtime story. However, your dear aunt Tatiana," and there he dared to look at her from under his eyelashes, almost coyly at his finding, "wasn't as sedentary as you. She kept moving from one place to another, barely leaving traces of her passing, but enough to be picked up by my trackers."

_Damn it, Aunt_ , Siya cursed in her mind. She had told Tatiana that her wandering for clues would get them screwed one day.

Siya wasn't sedentary for long periods of time, as her face was quite young and humans would notice if she didn't age. She had about five years in each city, before she had to move. Still, it was better than traveling around the continent leaving her scent everywhere. If a vampire didn't want to be found, it was surprisingly more prudent to stay rooted somewhere, laid forgotten by time.

"One of my trackers only had to get hold of your Aunt's phone one day to get the information I needed. One touch and your location was discovered."

Siya frowned. How would one touch—

_Goddamn it, Tatiana!_

Her aunt hadn't been found by a nobody, no-name tracker. She'd been found by a Delucci. The Delucci clan had a dangerous mental ability, envied by many others whose ability wasn't nearly as useful. Psychometry. The ability to obtain information about a person or object by touch.

Almost like mind-reading, her mother had once described. Indeed, psychometry was as close to telepathy as one could get. The Fukui clan and the Delucci clan could be distant cousins, if the vampires were a giant, dysfunctional family.

Their ability was even one of the reasons the Delucci clan had been chosen to be the current royal family of their world, responsible for controlling their race.

"Ah, yes, let me reintroduce myself. My name is Matheo Delucci. A pleasure to meet you."

As Matheo uttered these words - these words that would change her entire world, though Siya couldn't have known _then_ \- he brought his lips to the back of her hand, a perfect gentleman from decades past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, guys! Remember that this story, and many others, can also be found at FictionPress by Amaryllis D. Namikaze and at Wattpad by BrunaLCandido. If you liked my work so far, don't forget to check, kudo and comment my other stories. Thanks for the support!


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